My Truth, Not Yours

I have to wonder how many people will take this seriously: `Truthiness' is named Word of the Year. I also wonder how many people still think Stephen Colbert is a conservative. There have to be a few hundred thousand gullible fools still out there.

Chamber Hops on Creative Class Band Wagon?

It has been said many times in the town that the Creative Class is one of the keys to reinvigorating the Urban Core of Cincinnati, but it appears now that the 'fast moving' Chamber of Commerce has finally caught on to the idea.

Chaz Has It Right

A great guest column from former Mayor Charlie Luken. Furthermore to quell the rumors, I did not ghost write this for Charlie.

A letter to the Enquirer today agrees:

LUKEN NAILED IT IN COLUMN ON CITY

Charlie Luken is right about Cincinnati and about Peter Bronson; the city has the opportunity to rebound and is taking it ("Don't bash city that has so much going for it," Dec. 7). Why do suburbanites like Bronson feel they can bash a city that is doing so much to improve itself and dealing with the problems left by those irresponsible enough to abandon the city for places like West Chester and Blue Ash? You may favor the blander life of the suburbs over continuing the legacy of a great city, but don't stand back and criticize. I'll take downtown over mundane strip malls and chain restaurants any day.

Ben Bedel Covedale

Indeed.

Smoking Still Has Baby Teeth

The State Agreed at the last minute not to enforce the smoking ban until rules are established. That will hopefully happen quickly. This does not give smoker's the freedom to smoke as they please. This does give business owners to do as they please without the state sanctioning them. Businesses would do more in the long run to comply with the law now. Let the diehards at neighborhood dives keep smoking, but large bars should just get used to it.

Smitherman Loses, Again

Former Councilman Chris Smitherman lost his bid for President of the Cincy Chapter of the NAACP.

A Freddies Christmas

Murder Rate - 90% Drug Related

Too many People have an insane fear of the city. Some fear Downtown or the "ghetto" which they can't differentiate. What people need to understand is what the County coroner is saying:

However, in the majority of the city's homicides, authorities say the suspect and victim knew each other.

The Hamilton County coroner says 90% of the cases were drug-related.

"It's just not one factor," said Dr. O'dell Owens. "Its the guns, the [lack of] education and the drugs and the family unit. A lot of things we have to work on."

Yes, it is bad that the murder rate is up. We as a city, county, state, and country need to work broadly to decrease it. This does not make the city unsafe. I know childish commenters are going to now chime in. They'll make trite cracks about gun shots and Washington Park and some will make poorly veiled bigoted/racist statements. What they fail to grasp is that they are pussies. I say that with full offensive intended. They are scared little girls who see something on TV and think it is real. I think these idiots might even think that the 2001 riots happened along the river or in Mt. Adams.

The problems of crime are not unique to cities, they just are the easy scapegoats for those look for a rhetorical or socio-economic advantage. How many people are going to run away from Trenton because a guy was stabbed in bar fight with a screw driver? Someone breaks a car window at a downtown garage and panic and fear rips through the countryside.

If you don't mess with drugs, you are not going to be murdered..anywhere. Is that 100%, of course not. Does that mean you walk around with $100 bills sticking out of your pants? Of Course Not! That means you might grow a pair of balls and stop making crime your excuse for not exploring the city. If you are a lazy SOB, fine, don't blame crime for not going to Northside to see the band you like. If you are a cheap bastard, don't blame crime for not wanting to dare set a foot inside of the city limits after dark to hit a vibrant restaurant in Oakley or Downtown. If you are a bigot who hates blacks and uses crime as your excuse for being a bigot, well, you can just shut up and rot in Hell.

UPDATE: Errors corrected to silence the grammatical prudes. No Doubt there are errors I missed, but honestly, I don't give a shit.